The Butterfly
by mysteriousmissessnape
Summary: Snape and Hermione meet again to leave. See what they leave behind. Mention of Ginny/Harry. Post Hogwarts AU. Very angsty.


_**Hi everyone. I must give credit where credit is due, most of the characters don't belong to me, I'm just borrowing them for my nefarious plans. (You may recognize one of mine if you've read one of my other stories, Alloces?) All other characters belong to J.K. This isn't the original idea for what I wanted to write but I like it nonetheless. Maybe one day I'll upload the original.**_

 _ **On with the story then.**_

She glanced around the old gazebo. The once white paint was peeling and now a muted yellow, dirt and leaves covering the worn flooring. The wood creaked under her weight and she sighed, fingering the splintered bannister.

"I miss you, you know." Her breath puffed out in front of her face, pale but for the pink tinged nose and cheeks. She watched a few leaves that had stubbornly clung to the trees fall in orange splashes against the fading blue sky.

"The boys, they.. Wouldn't have understood my need for this." Her voice caught and she winced. If one looked closely, they would notice her eyes were dull and yet, they were full of untold pain. A tear rolled down and the head full of nearly grey curls ducked down.

"You weren't supposed to leave me." Her voice barely rose above a whisper, but somehow she knew she was heard. She lifted the chain from her shirt, at the end hung a silver, dented ring.

"I couldn't leave it for someone else to find, you know."

Her fingers wound around the cool metal. The breeze that lifted her hair was warm and she froze as the scent of sandalwood and other herbs reached her nose. A small dark colored butterfly landed on the railing by her bony hand and she stared at the innocent creature.

For a long while, the only sounds were that of her own breathing and of the falling leaves. She watched as the butterfly crawled onto her knuckles and flattened its wings to brush against her fingers. Smiling, she watched as it took flight into the dying sun.

"I love you Severus Tobias Snape. Wait for me, wherever you are." Hermione Snape nee Granger whispered into the last rays of light before pivoting away on dead leaves and apparating back into the home they had shared for 105 years of marriage And it was in this bright cottage, that Hermione took her last breath.

No one noticed the departing widow, war heroine, or mother. And no one noticed when the tall, dour man grasped the hand of a fiery young woman as they left this plane together.

A note on the bedside table proclaimed: "I was here for a moment, and then I was gone."

Harry Potter stood at a worn old work table in his basement when he felt it. A light surge of warm air cascading around him. He embraced the feeling and smiled sadly. Carefully he made the trek upstairs into the living room of Grimmauld place, where Ginny and he had made their home. Focusing for a second, so as not to splinch himself, he apparated into the cheery cottage and journeyed up the narrow staircase to the bedroom. Harry knew what he would find.

There lay Hermione Snape, faithful wife of ex-Death eater Severus Snape, such peace relaxing her features that she could have only been sleeping. Her once brown curls framed an aged but still youthful face, two rings glinting in the moonlight on a silver chain.

Harry leaned against the wall and sighed. Knowing it would happen and being there right after it did were two very different things. The woman that lay before him was miraculous. She had been the brains behind every scheme in their Hogwarts years, had been a bridesmaid at his wedding, had stayed by him when he left her high and dry, and had been there when Ron had passed only a few years prior. She had fought off that muggle disease, had brought three children into the world, and had lost the fourth. She had put up with the Great Dungeon Bat for over a century after badgering him into letting her apprentice after the war. It had been a great thing, that apprenticeship. Hermione had looked so pleased and frustrated and happy all together.

Shoving off the wall, Harry slowly took the chain from her relenting fingers and folded them inside the note he knew was not meant for his eyes.

Clearing his throat as he shifted towards the door, he uttered "Thank you, Hermione. For everything."

And with a quiet crack, he was gone.

Alloces stood quietly in the semi-circle of graves, nearest to his parents, a silver chain around his neck. Where only two rings had resided those many years ago, now held five. The youngest direct descendant of that powerful witch and wizard gazed at the tombstone that held their names proudly.

Quietly, he began to speak.

"Nobody notices when we leave. I mean, the moment we really choose to go. At best, you might feel a whisper, or the wave of a whisper. But mom.. When you met dad again to leave together?" His voice cracked and dropped with unshed sucked in a hard breath and ignored the black hair clouding his vision.

"It was an earthquake."

His voice was a whisper on the wind, barely heavy enough to catch by ear. Before he turned to leave the rainy hillside, Alloces knelt in front of the stone and murmured one last line.

"And we all felt it."

 _ **Sorry guys, I know this one is sad, I'm sorry. I was watching**_ **The Lovely Bones** _ **when I got the idea. Actually, you may recognize the last few lines in the movie. It was.**_

" **Nobody notices when we leave. I mean, the moment when we really choose to go. At best, you might feel a whisper, or the wave of a whisper undulating down. My name is Salmon, like the fish. First name, Susie. I was fourteen years old when I was murdered on December 6th, 1973. I was here for a moment, then I was gone."**

 _ **It took so long to figure out. Anyway, reviews are welcome, good and bad as always.**_

 _ **Ciao**_ **.**


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